20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 568: A War Without Kindness and Justice (Part )
When a person's head falls to the ground, everything is in vain.

Li Zhengxi dropped his blunt-edged machete and took the pistol from Lou Jingyuan's waist. He then took off his gown, revealing his shorts. He wiped the blood off his face and wrapped the submachine gun with his gown. He picked up the butt of the gun, smashed the already broken glass window, and leaned down to shout.

Glancing toward the street, he saw two of the Jiang family's "Xiangzi" hurriedly running to the window in response.

"then!"

Li Zhengxi threw the machine in his hand out through the window.

One of them caught it steadily downstairs, and then left without saying a word. He had only taken two steps when a rickshaw came running from the side.

When the two met, the cars had not stopped and the people had not rested.

The young man ran a few steps after the rickshaw, then reached out to grab the seat, suddenly jumped up from the ground, and landed steadily on the rickshaw. His movements were quick and decisive, without any delay. Then he and the rickshaw driver drove away without a trace.

The remaining "Xiangzi" of the Jiang family, seeing that the brothers who took the gun had already gone far away, naturally did not stand there in a daze, but immediately made a circle in the block and went around to the back street of Guanghe Building to wait.

The private room was in a mess. Cui Yingzhen slowly stood up.

The girl was not very old. Although she was born in a turbulent time where the destruction of the country and the family had become the norm, she was still frightened when she saw the sea of ​​blood and corpses with her own eyes. At this moment, her face was pale, her ears were ringing, and she felt nauseous.

But she didn't regret it, she just asked timidly: "Is it over?"

Li Zhengxi turned around, shook his head, and said, "No, it's just the beginning."

Cui Yingzhen couldn't help but frown, seeming a little confused - obviously, the two people were talking about completely different things.

Just at this moment, the door of the private room suddenly burst open with a bang!

The screams in Guanghe Building suddenly became real and shrill.

Li Zhengxi subconsciously raised his gun and looked carefully, and found that it was Li Jae-chun and his group of Korean thugs coming.

Several people took a black windbreaker and hurriedly put it on Cui Yingzhen, then quickly glanced at the situation in the private room.

"Are all resolved?" Li Jae-soon was a little surprised.

Li Zhengxi lowered his gun, walked over quickly, nodded and asked, "Can you get her out safely?"

"Don't worry, don't worry about us!"

"Well, split up and retreat quickly!"

Li Zhengxi immediately walked out of the room, and several Koreans followed closely behind him.

At this time, Guanghe Building was already in a mess.

After the gunshots, the second floor of the store was the first to become commotion. Everyone rushed out of the private rooms and ran for the stairs. At this time, the corridor was almost cleared; the guests at the scattered tables in the lobby were naturally no less in trouble, and they all ran for their lives, busy avoiding the disaster.

In an instant, everyone rushed to the gate.

All I saw was people pushing and shoving each other, fighting for things, there was no trace of decency at all.

In the chaos, no one dared to look back, for fear that if they walked a step slower, they would become the "fun" in the eyes of others.

Several Koreans pretended to be frightened people, screaming loudly while escorting Cui Yingzhen down the stairs quickly.

Li Zhengxi said goodbye to everyone in a hurry, then turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

They came to the end of the corridor and broke open the window. Downstairs was the back street of Guanghe Building. At this moment, three "Xiangzi" of the Jiang family had been waiting in the alley for a long time.

Li Zhengxi didn't wait a moment and immediately stepped over the windowsill.

There is one advantage of this old-style building, which is that each floor has eaves.

Li Zhengxi grabbed the windowsill with one hand, stepped sideways on the tiles, and then jumped up. Although he had no foundation in light work, fortunately the floor was not high. He landed on the ground, staggered a few steps, and his brothers stepped forward to catch him, and he immediately stood firm.

They were all wearing shorts and high-tops, so they ran very fast. They ran along the deep alleys and finally escaped quietly.

Now let’s turn around and talk about the two Qing Gang disciples who were originally responsible for keeping watch outside the door.

The two brothers were frightened when they suddenly heard the gunshots. They quickly flicked the cigarette from their fingers, still confused as to where so many people came from, but they had already drawn their guns and immediately ran into the Guanghe Building.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I ran to the gate, I saw a huge group of people rushing out.

Before the two men could even shout out threats, they were knocked to the ground by the surging crowd and their backs were stepped on several times.

Fortunately, they were both young and strong, and reacted quickly. After crying out a few times, they quickly curled up their bodies, rolled and crawled, and after a long time, they finally squeezed out from the gap between the people.

In the panic, I suddenly heard several people shouting loudly.

"Someone's dead! Someone's dead! Go call the police!"

"What's going on? I just saw two teams of police officers on the street. Where are they?"

The two Qing Gang disciples were dizzy and confused. They heard a lot of chaos and confusion and had no idea what was going on.

Although he was lucky enough to have a life and was not trampled to death on the spot, he was still swollen and sore all over. He had no choice but to sit on the street and wait for the Guanghe Building to end. He watched the panicked crowd flee in all directions, and the rumbling footsteps gradually faded away...

…………

Soon, the hurried footsteps finally stopped.

A few people wearing black cloth shoes were standing in the middle of the road. Looking up along their leggings, they saw that they were the patrol officers from the Old City.

However, what stood in front of everyone was not the Guanghelou Restaurant, but the New Stage Theater.

After Huang Ma Piheng was kidnapped by robbers, several bodyguards who managed to escape hurriedly informed the robbers, quickly gathered people and returned to the scene to provide support.

The old man's disciples arrived first, followed by the officials from the Old City County Government. The people from the police station were not in a position to enforce the law across the border, but many plainclothes detectives also came to help with the search.

On the road in front of the New Stage, the neon lights reflected a scarlet glow. Three or five Huang family bodyguards lay in a pool of blood, dying.

The old men were busy clearing the area, dispersing onlookers and carrying away the dead and injured.

"Come on, come on, what are you looking at? Are you an accomplice of the criminal?"

"If you keep looking, I'll arrest you all and interrogate you in turns. Get out of here now!"

"Be honest, keep your mouth shut and stop spreading rumors!"

While the streets were busy, the doors of the New Stage Theatre were closed. Only a few team leaders, plainclothes detectives, Green Gang leaders and three or two Huang family bodyguards were inside, interrogating and questioning people to understand the situation.

The theater owner and the troupe leader were naturally the key interrogation targets. They were now placed in two boxes respectively and were being questioned individually.

The Huang family thug who came to the rescue was nicknamed "Erqing". He was quite thin, in his late thirties, with a crew cut, more white than black in his eyes, and a sinister look.

Since he was not an official, he naturally did not participate in the interrogation. Instead, he was busy understanding the details of the incident with Huang Ma Pi's three or two personal bodyguards.

Everyone was still in shock. A young bodyguard seemed to be unaccustomed to his identity and suggested, "Brother, the firepower of those people is too strong. We should call the police." Erqing glared and cursed, "You bastard, Amulin, I am the official, who else are you going to find?"

"No, no, no!" the young bodyguard explained quickly, "What I mean is, we should go find the chief of police of the police station, or the old city county police station, and ask them to send more people to help!"

This is true.

Although Huang Ma Pi was deeply trusted by foreigners and had a great influence in both the black and white worlds, the French police station was not run by his family after all. At most, he could only order low-level Chinese detectives around. It was wishful thinking for him to want to mobilize the French police station and all the police forces in the Old Town.

However, Erqing frowned and scolded in a low voice: "No, shut up and don't ask foreigners for help!"

The bodyguard was stunned and asked hurriedly: "Then, what about the master? He has been kidnapped now!"

"Asshole!" Er Qing raised his hand and knocked the young man on the head. "Don't make a fuss about it. This matter is not allowed to be spread outside for the time being! The foreigners use old men to let them help them manage the gang, not the other way around. Do you understand?"

"I know, I know. Now..."

"Where's the old man's car?"

"I didn't see it. It must have been driven away by the robbers."

"Make a phone call right away and notify the brothers in other places and the police station to search the whole city for the old man's car!"

The young bodyguard responded and immediately took the initiative to run to the New Stage office, asked for a phone number, and notified all the Green Gang disciples in the foreign concessions one by one.

Erqing called the remaining brothers and quickly went to the backstage of the theater. When he came in front of the actors, he looked around with an aggressive look.

"Did everyone see what happened just now?" he asked.

The actors nodded: "I saw it."

"Did everyone see what happened just now?" Er Qing asked again.

The actors were stunned for a moment, then quickly shook their heads and said, "I didn't see it."

"Very good. If you are an opera singer, then you should sing well. You should know what to say and what not to say."

"Of course, of course. We came to Shanghai just to make money. Other things have nothing to do with us."

Although the actors agreed readily, when they thought about the situation just now and the boast that Huang Ma Pi had made before, the comparison between the two was really ironic - Huang Ma Pi couldn't even protect himself, so how could he talk about being the leader of the dragon and the handle of the ladle?

However, the Eight Open Sects were too lazy to get involved in the affairs of the Eight Dark Sects, so they just kept their mouths shut to avoid further trouble.

Er Qing nodded with satisfaction, and then ordered his attendants, "Write down the names of these people. I'll go back first and give you the news later. If those old men come downstairs, tell them to wait for a while."

Everyone responded and obeyed the order without saying another word.

As for where Erqing is going, we brothers know it very well.

The old man was kidnapped, and this was not the first time. There was no one else who could make the decision at this time except the eldest sister-in-law, Guisheng.

The most important thing right now is to find ways to block the news, contact the kidnappers as soon as possible, and negotiate a ransom, so as to calm the crisis as quickly and low-key as possible.

Unexpectedly, not far from the New Stage, there was another burst of commotion on the street in the northwest direction. Pedestrians were seen panicking, whispering to each other, and looking for officials everywhere. It seemed that some big news had happened not far away.

Although Erqing was curious, he did not have the time to pay attention to it. He was only concerned with getting to the Huang Mansion in the French Concession as soon as possible.

…………

After entering the mansion, I was informed by the housekeeper and finally met Sister Guisheng in the living room.

It was late at night and the mansion was silent. Mrs. Huang was still unaware of the situation and was still reclining on the sofa, smoking and casually flipping through a picture magazine. She seemed bored, but in fact she was heartbroken.

Er Qing stepped forward quickly, pondered for a moment, and then told the whole story of the incident from the beginning, and finally ended with one sentence:

"Sister Guisheng, the old man has been kidnapped."

"what?"

Sister Guisheng sat up in response, and a trace of surprise and worry suddenly flashed in her eyes, but it only lasted for a brief moment and soon disappeared.

Then, her expression immediately dimmed again, as if her taut heartstrings suddenly broke, and her whole body instantly lost all energy and spirit. Suddenly, she collapsed gracefully, picked up the cigarette pipe, and took two deep puffs.

When people’s hearts turn cold, they seem to not care about anything, and the same is true for Sister Guisheng.

"With so many bodyguards, how could he be kidnapped in the street?" she asked calmly.

Erqing whispered back, "They have fewer people but more guns, and they act very quickly. It must have been done by bandits, not gang members."

"Do the foreigners know about this?"

"Not yet. I asked them to keep their mouths shut. Aren't we just waiting for Sister Guisheng to make a decision?"

"What ideas can I have?" Sister Guisheng sneered, "I am already in danger of losing my life, so I can only stay in this house one day at a time. It's not my turn to worry about anything."

Erqing knew that this was just an angry remark, but he couldn't say anything, so he could only suggest on his own: "How about... let's get Boss Du over again? The last time Mr. Lu kidnapped the old man, it was Boss Du who helped him. Should I call him now?"

"Haha, if you want to harm him, then let him come."

"Ah? Sister Guisheng, what does this mean?"

Sister Guisheng propped herself up with her elbows and said with a smile, "Believe it or not, if Ah Yong came here now, he might be shot on the way?"

"Ah?" Er Qing was surprised. After thinking carefully for a moment, he suddenly asked, "Sister Guisheng, do you know who the kidnapper is?"

"I don't know, I'm just guessing. When something like this happens, we have to prepare for the worst, right?"

"That's true, but we can't just do nothing, right?"

"What else do you want to do?" Sister Guisheng asked back, "If he's here to seek revenge, Ma Pi should be in the Huangpu River now; if he's here to seek wealth, we should just wait patiently for news. The initiative is in his hands. In such a big foreign land, where can you find him?"

"However, the kidnappers drove away the old man's car. This should be a clue."

"Well, it's a clue, but it could also be a bait."

Sister Guisheng responded lazily with a few words.

Erqing lowered his head and said nothing. After thinking about it, he couldn't come up with any better ideas.

Just then, the phone in the living room suddenly rang!
"Ding-a-ling-ding-a-ling--"

"Go pick it up!"

Sister Guisheng pointed to the phone on the tea table and snorted indifferently, "It's quite fast. The kidnappers are going to make conditions."

(End of this chapter)